Land Of Oz Book Study: Illustrator

John R. Neill (2nd Illustrator of the Series)

John Rea Neill (1877-1943) illustrated thirty five volumes of the Oz books--that is, 13 out of 14 Oz books. He also wrote four of the editions, including The Wonder City of Oz, The Scalawagons of Oz, Lucky Bucky in Oz, and The Run Away of Oz. Although Neill did not illustrate the first The Wizard of Oz book, he is known for establishing the look of Oz and the strange beings who lived there (Carpenter, p.74).

Neill was born in 1877, in Philadelphia, PA. He was the fifth child out of eight children. After his father died, his mother ran the family laundry buisness which kept the family stable. After High School, in 1895, Neill enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, but soon dropped out because "they have nothing to teach him". Neill's jobs consited as a "cub reporter" (1896) for Philadelphia newspaper doing sketches in Police Court, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia North American (1898), Public Ledger (1904).

In 1904, Neill was approached by publisher's Reilly & Britton to illustrate The Land of Oz. He was 26 years old, and would become the principal illustreator for the rest of the Oz series books. Neill appreceated Denslow's ilustrations, but decided to add his own creative style to Oz.

Neill continued to illustrate the Oz books and other work as a freelance artist fulltime. When the depression hit in 1930, illustrators were ousted and photographers became more prominent. Neill died in 1943, at the age of 65.

This biography is accurate, because the copyright date on the book states that the book was published in July, 1904.

Why did Neill illustrate the second book, and not the first Oz book?

W.W. Denslow (1st Illustrator of the Series)

Since The Land of Oz is part of a series, it is important to comment on the previous illustrators who contributed to the series, to help explain why the illustrations appear different. Another illustrator by the name of William Wallace Denslow illustrated the first book The Wizard of Oz, while John R. Neill illustrated the second book. It has been noted that the author L. Frank Baum and Denslow held the copyrights to the work jointly. In this case, Denslow argued with Baum and the composer Paul Tietjens for equal royalty shares for the stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (Wiki). In Katherine M. Rogers L.Frank Baum Creator of Oz: A Biography, points out the disagreement between Baum and Denslow "Baum had resolved never to let another artist share the copyright on his characters; he was still nursing his resentment in 1915, when he reiterated this resolve to his publishers" (Rogers, p.127). Therefore, it appeads that Baum and Denslow shared copyrights over the work. In this case, as the illustrator Denslow should have the right to use his own art, but Baum disagreed. Since Denslow shared copyright to characters with Baum, he used the art of the Baum books to create newspaper comic strips featuring the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman. Baum and Denslow's argument shows the struggle between author's and illustrators to rights of the material they produce together. Baum would not have been successful without Denslow's illustrations, and Denslow would not have been able to draw the pictures without Baum's idea. Together they accomplished the Wizard of Oz book, but money separated them. This problem taught Baum to never share his copyright with another illustrator.

Comparison of Illustrators

Therefore, in order to keep the same flow of work, Neill's illustrations had to reflect the same as Denslow's. Research highlights how Neill was able to be creative despite the consistency to Denslow's work:"Denslow's illustrations had been quite popular. However, as the series expanded, Neill brought his own unique flair to the illustrations, showing more artistic representations of the characters as well as beautiful paintings of numerous scenes. In fact, he was later named the Royal Painter of Oz" (Rogers, p. 127). There are noticble differences in the illustrations. Neill's Tinman has a square-shaped face, and Denslow's Tin man has a rounded head shape, with the hat tilted to the side. Denslow's scarecrow has a potato-sack look, while Neill's scarecrow has a rounded-shaped head.

Denslow

The illustrations between the two are different. Denslow's Dorothy is illustrated as a chubby five or six-year old, with long brown hair in two braids. The tin man has a rounded shaped head. Denslow's skill seems to be drawing comical animals with human expressions. The scarecrow looks as if he is stuffed with straw, but also has muscles. There is duality in the illustrations.

In the right corner is a picture of Denslow's slogan, which is a pictue of a seahorse next to his initials.
Neill
When Dorothy's character is re-introduced in Ozma of Oz (1907) Neill illustrates her as a modernized ten-year-old girl with an American fashionable appearance: blonde hair cut into a bob (John). The sacrecrow's face has a circular shape, and the Tinman's face is more square shaped.